The chemical name of abiraterone acetate (CAS: 154229-18-2) is (3β)-17-(3-pyridyl)-androst-5,16-dien-3-ol acetate, the formula is:

Abiraterone acetate is an inhibitor of CYP17 suitable for, in combining with prednisone, the treatment of refractory prostate cancer patients who have failed treatment with docetaxel-containing [docetaxel] chemotherapy transfer by. For prostate cancer patients, the male hormone testosterone stimulates the growth of prostate tumors. Medical or surgical treatment is adopted to reduce the generation of testosterone or prevent testosterone.
According to the published literatures, there are two kinds of abiraterone acetate synthesis.
The first method (WO9320097, WO2006021777, CN102030798, CN101044155) is as follows: With dehydroepiandrosterone acetate as a starting material, obtaining triflate ester through one-step synthesis, obtaining crude abiraterone acetate through SUZUKI reaction with diethyl (3-pyridyl) borane, and then the crude product is purified by column chromatography or by salt-formation with methanesulfonic acid/trifluoromethanesulfonic acid to obtain abiraterone acetate.
Defects of this Method:
(1) Different solvents are used in steps 1 and 2, which results in difficult work-up and high cost;
(2) The purification is done through column chromatography or salification with methanesulfonic acid/trifluoromethanesulfonic acid to obtain abiraterone acetate, which increases production steps and costs.
The second method (WO9509178, Chinese Journal of Pharmaceuticals, 2012, 43 (10), 804-806) is as follows: Dehydroepiandrosterone as the starting material reacts with hydrazine hydrate to obtain Dehydroepiandrosterone-17-hydrazone, which undergoes an iodization with iodine and then a Suzuki coupling reaction with (3-pyridyl)-diethyl borane to obtain abiraterone, followed by esterification with acetyl chloride to obtain abiraterone acetate.
Defects of this method: More reaction steps are needed and more solvents are used, which increases the manufacturing steps and costs.